Can't Switch Drivers from ATI to VESA Cleanly (102518)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.1
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.1
This article was previously published under Q102518

SYMPTOMS

A user installed the ATI video driver. The machine didn't have the correct ATI hardware, so the next time the machine was booted, the ATI driver failed to load and the plain VGA driver loaded instead. The user then ran Setup to change to VESA VGA, but Setup didn't disable the ATI driver because it was not running in the system. As a result, the next time Windows NT was booted, the following error message appeared:
At least one service specified to start at boot has failed to start. Please check the event log for details.

CAUSE

The problem is a general one: whenever you change a system component (display, mouse, keyboard), Setup disables the currently active component--which may not be the same one that is actually running. This leaves the original driver enabled, which may cause the above error message to appear.

WORKAROUND

  1. Open Control Panel, choose the Devices icon, and disable the ATI driver.
  2. Run maintenance mode Setup, select the ATI driver again, and exit Setup as normal.
  3. Run maintenance mode Setup again, and select the driver you really want. When you select another driver, maintenance mode Setup will turn off the ATI driver.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information, query on the following words here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

setup and fails and disable and driver and currently and installed

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/29/2003
Keywords:kbother KB102518
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.